Baker Hughes reached a major local content win in 2024, with 55% of its workforce in Guyana made up of Guyanese. The company credits sustained investment in local talent and a people-centered development strategy.
“People first energy board is really what we like to say,” said Chris Johnson, Vice President, Oilfield Services & Equipment, North America Offshore at Baker Hughes, during a panel at the just concluded Suriname Energy Oil and Gas Summit (SEOGS). “That really starts with focus on the individuals in the communities, but also how we support that pipeline and talent,” he noted
Johnson said the achievement was the result of a deliberate roadmap that began years earlier. “We looked at degree plans, the number of individuals coming out [of local universities], what workforce needs the industry had, and then built a roadmap around that,” he explained.
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He said developing workforce competencies in a growing industry takes time. “With any growth in a developing country, you have to think about what the roadmap looks like, one, two, three, five-plus years down the road,” he said. “That’s a large investment… and a lot of collaboration with the local government agencies as well.”
Much of the local team at Baker Hughes began as university graduates and has grown with the company. “A lot of that started out with that initial group… and has basically grown and been developed over the years,” Johnson said.
In 2024 alone, the company delivered 5,000 hours of training in Guyana. “Training consists of everything from financial, health, safety, compliance, environmental management, leadership,” he said.
Johnson emphasized that the goal was not just employment, but long-term professional development. “You’re trying to set folks up for a career, and everybody’s career path may look a little bit different,” he said. “It’s not until you get the substance and that kind of ecosystem development that you start to see where people may want to go, whether that’s with a company, somewhere else globally, or stay locally.”
He called the approach “pretty successful” and a model of how companies can embed community development into business strategy.
Baker Hughes has a strong history of localization in Guyana. In 2022, it celebrated the opening of a multimodal supercenter in Georgetown. The company also provides a variety of services and equipment to operators in the country, including turbomachinery for ExxonMobil Guyana’s FPSO fleet and production chemicals for the Liza Unity vessel.
The company released its 2025 quarter report on April 22, revealing that it has secured a significant award from ExxonMobil Guyana. It will supply specialty chemicals and related services for the Uaru and Whiptail offshore projects in the Stabroek Block.
